Posts for: October, 2017

For a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums, it takes a lifetime of personal and professional care. Starting your child’s daily hygiene with the first tooth eruption is a must; but you should also consider beginning regular dental visits in their early years, around or before their first birthday.

There’s evidence that early dental visits hold a number of benefits that could lead to reduced oral care costs over their lifetime.

Familiarity with professional dental care. Children need to feel comfortable and safe in their surroundings, especially new places. Beginning dental visits early improves the chances your child will view the dentist’s office as a regular part of their life. It’s especially helpful if the dental professional has training and experience with young children to put them at ease.

Early monitoring for dental disease or other problems. A young child’s teeth are highly susceptible to tooth decay. Dental visits that begin early in a child’s life increase our chances of detecting any developing dental problems early. In addition to treating decayed teeth, your child may also need preventative actions like sealants or additional fluoride applications to protect teeth if they are at a higher risk for disease. As the child develops, we may also be able to catch early bite problems: with interventional treatment, it may be possible to reduce future orthodontic costs.

Parental help and support. As we discuss your child’s dental care with you, we’ll be able to provide essential information and training for how to care for their teeth and gums at home. We’ll also be able to ease any common concerns you may have, such as thumb sucking or other oral habits, as well as give you sound advice and techniques for dealing with these problems.

As with other areas of childhood development, starting off on the right foot with oral care can make all the difference to their future dental health. The sooner you begin regular dental visits with your toddler, the better their chances for a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

Today’s healthcare patients are asking questions. They want to know the “why” behind the “what” that their care providers are recommending for their health.

There’s a similar trend in dentistry — and it’s one we dentists encourage. We want you to know the “why” behind your treatment options — because you’re as much a participant in your own dental health as we are. The more informed you are, the better equipped you’ll be to make decisions to maintain or improve your health and the appearance of your smile.

As your dental care partner, it’s also essential we help you develop a long-term care plan based on your needs. There are aspects of dental care that are routine: daily brushing and flossing, an oral-friendly diet, and regular dental cleanings and checkups to assess your oral health. But we also need to think strategically, especially if you have risk factors that could impact your future dental health.

To do this we follow a four-step dental care cycle. In Step 1 we identify all the potential risk factors you personally face. These include your potential for dental disease, which could lead to bone and tooth loss, and the state of your bite and jaw structure that could complicate future health. We’ll also take into account any factors that could now or eventually affect your smile appearance.

Once we’ve identified these various factors, we’ll then assess their possible impact on your health in Step 2, not just what may be happening now but what potentially could happen in the future. From there we move to Step 3: treating any current issues and initiating preventive measures to protect your future health.

In Step 4 we’ll monitor and maintain the level of health we’ve been able to reach with the preceding steps. We’ll continue in this stage until we detect an emerging issue, in which we’ll then repeat our cycle of care.

Maintaining this continuum will help reduce the chances of an unpleasant surprise in your dental health. We’ll be in a better position to see issues coming and help reduce their impact now so you can continue to have a healthy mouth and an attractive smile.